OTTAWA — A Conservative senator from Prince Edward Island, Mike Duffy, continued to outspend most of his colleagues on office-related expenses in the past year, the first year of a Conservative majority in the House of Commons and Senate.

The quarterly expense reports that senators are legally required to file show that Duffy spent almost $159,000 on his office between June 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012, which included salaries for staff and equipment.

But unlike the remaining top-10 office spenders in the Senate — all but one of whom are Liberals — Duffy's office expenses extend outside his Parliament Hill office and into the province he represents.

Duffy is one of the few senators in Canada who have a person or office on the ground in the province they represent. Duffy was unavailable for comment.

The Senate itself doesn't publicly list any constituency contacts for senators because, as several senators' offices pointed out, it is such a rarity since senators historically have not had constituency offices.

That appears to be changing.

The office budgets suggest a divide between senators who focus resources on offices in Ottawa and those who split their budget between the capital and their constituencies, or "Senate divisions."

Liberal Senator Terry Mercer's office spending over the first year of the Harper government's majorities in both chambers was $153,739; some of that money went to cover the cost of flights to bring his staff to Nova Scotia from Ottawa to do constituency work.

"I can do a lot myself and they can do a lot of stuff by remote control, but it's very helpful to have people with me on the ground," Mercer said.

Mercer himself pitched the idea of setting up a shared office for five of the ten senators from Nova Scotia, but the idea went nowhere.

"There's no reason why we couldn't have . . . a rented space where we have a meeting room and each have our own individual office," Mercer said.

Senator Romeo Dallaire, also a Liberal appointee, spent $156,740 through the last four quarters. The retired general said that, like Mercer, he has veteran staff that command higher wages.

"I also keep scrounging money from others who may not be fully using their funds . . . to move my work in the Senate," Dallaire said. That includes finding cash to offer short-term contract work to any of the nine postgraduate students who regularly volunteer in his office to help him keep up with speaking and writing requests, Dallaire said.

However, he doesn't have a constituency office.

"Those (senators) who have got more of a political background . . . keep a sort of office in the region that they're representing and that's a very loose term for senators who are representing the country," Dallaire said.

Senator Bob Runciman, another Conservative senator, maintains a constituency office in Brockville, Ont., the same city in which the former provincial politician maintained an office. Runciman's quarterly expense reports show that he spent almost $113,000 on his office.

Senator Bert Brown, one of two elected senators, keeps a constituency office in Calgary that he visits on Mondays and Fridays. Brown spent about $147,000 on his office budget since June 1, 2011, according to the quarterly expense reports.

The second elected senator, Senator Betty Unger, said she thought she too needed to set up a constituency office. Instead, Unger keeps her office budget costs down by using vacant office space in a federal government building in downtown Edmonton, or by meeting Albertans informally in a coffee shop or at their homes.

"At this point, I don't see the need," Unger said.

Over the last two quarters — her first reports since being appointed in December — Unger spent almost $23,000 on office expenses, lower than any other senator appointed over that time.

Liberal Senator James Cowan still has the highest overall office budget in the Senate, according to the quarterly expense reports, but as the leader of the opposition in the Senate, his office budget envelope is larger than other senators.

Similarly, Conservative Senator Marjory LeBreton's quarterly expense reports don't include funds she receives from the Privy Council Office to run her office as leader of the government in the Senate.

Removing those two from the list, Duffy comes out as the biggest spender on office budgets — one of only two Conservative senators to make the top-10.

Liberal Senator Colin Kenny saw his office budget jump to $158,185, largely as a result of having to bring on a new worker to take over from one of his assistants going on maternity leave. After subtracting the doubled-up salary, Kenny would have spent about $131,000 for the past four quarters.

Senator Elaine McCoy was the highest spending independent senator at $154,352, largely because she doesn't have the benefit of caucus funds to pay for events or research.

As with Mercer, Liberal Senator Mac Harb's office budget of more than $152,000 is a result of having veteran staffers who can command a higher wage than junior office staff.

The senator with the lowest office budget over the last four quarters was Liberal Senator Paul Massicotte, who spent about $38,000, according to the quarterly reports.

Senators are required to produce quarterly reports about their spending on their office, travel and living expenses in Ottawa. Here are the 11 senators who spent more than $150,000 on their office budgets from June 1, 2011 to May 31, 2012.

1) James Cowan (Liberal): $159,872.06*

2) Mike Duffy (Conservative): $158,771.87

3) Colin Kenny (Liberal): $158,185.17

4) Romeo Dallaire (Liberal): $156,740.69

5) Elaine McCoy (Progressive Conservative): $154,351.61

6) Terry Mercer (Liberal): $153,739.18

7) Serge Joyal (Liberal): $153,497.46

8) Mac Harb (Liberal): $152,288.43

9) Grant Mitchell (Liberal): $151,581.76

10) Dennis Patterson (Conservative): $151,581.76

11) Rod Zimmer (Liberal): $150,847.63

*As leader of the opposition in the Senate, Cowan's office budget is normally higher than the $161,200 senators are given annually to pay for office expenses.

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